The musings of a freeborn Englishman who is totally disenchanted with the present dictatorial attitude that poses as democracy

Sunday, 28 March 2010

David Cameron: I Am Happy To Talk About Europe - NOT

David Cameron was quizzed today on the Daily Politics Show by a studio audience on various subjects, including Europe. The link to iPlayer is now available. Politics Home has a transcript here, part of which reads:

"SOPEL Malcolm Wale, you interrupted a moment ago, I think you’re an ex-Conservative voter who’s now voting for the UK Independence Party?

MALCOLM WALE: That’s right. To me there should be a total ban altogether.
CAMERON: Well I’m afraid I don’t agree with you Sir

WARE: Wait a minute. A total ban until for ten years minimum, until everything has been sorted out. Then start allocations.
Q: David Holmer, let me come to you as well. What do you think?

DAVID HOLMER: Hi, Europe, no party seems to speak about Europe. It’s as if it’s been swept under the carpet. We pay the most into Europe, we get the least out. You’re getting countries who are paying very little into Europe like France that gets the most out but they have the biggest say. Why are we not having the biggest say? Why aren’t we directing --

CAMERON: First of all I’m very happy to talk about Europe. I do public meetings all over the country, I did my 71st last night. I often get asked questions about Europe and I’m delighted to talk about it. My view is we should be in the European Union, we’re a trading nation, we need those markets open, we should be cooperating with our partners about the things that matter to us.

But I don’t want to live in a country called Europe and I don’t think we should pass any more powers from Westminster to Brussels. In fact I think there are some powers that ought to come back from Brussels to Westminster, and also I think it is wrong –

SOPEL What about powers over immigration?

CAMERON: I think we should keep control of our own immigration policy and that’s very very important but also I think it is wrong that these powers keep getting passed without asking you, the British public, first so one of the first things we do if we win the election is we will pass a law that says any time the British parliament wants to pass power from Westminster to Brussels, there must be a referendum and we ask you first.

That would be a change that would take place and I think all the other parties will have to accept it and we will have changed our constitution in a better way to say this cannot, the disgrace over the Lisbon treaty and the other treaties, that cannot happen again.

SOPEL Do you think you’ve damaged your own credibility, Mr Cameron, by saying in the Sun newspaper you offered a cast iron guarantee, and then you tore it up?

CAMERON: No what I said is the treaty, there should have been a referendum over that treaty. When that treaty became the law, it was something you couldn’t have a referendum over."

No, Mr. Cameron you do not 'talk' about 'Europe' EU membership - you answer a question or two during programmes like this and your Cameron Direct 'events'. To repeat, three times Mr. Cameron - yes three times - you have refused to publicly debate the subject of EU membership in your own constituency.

Cameron is also devious by inferring that to trade with the EU we need to be a member. He has obviously never heard of Norway and Switzerland! Also, if it is wrong for powers to be passed to the EU without asking us Mr. Cameron, how about asking us whether we agree to all the powers that have been passed - never mind about those that may nor may not be passed in the near future!

So yet again we see an example of a politician - and this one has form - of 'lying' to the public, deceiving the public by being economical with the facts and thereby not being 'open and honest'. It will be extremely interesting to see the recording, when available, as this transcript does not 'read' very well for Cameron and just shows him as 'ducking' questions - something the public do not want to hear - but then again he has 'form' on that too!

3 comments:

I listen to what these politicians say and time and time again they just recycle the same words and phrases. Cameron seems to be no different to Brown in this respect, Mr W. They pass the stock-response sheets between them and just change a cple of words here or there. Brown even recycles whole sentences in PMQs weeks or months apart.

They talk about energy or vision; I wish they had the energy to enthuse their words and speeches with something other than dull repetition then I might summon the energy to start blogging properly again.

You are of course correct, Cameron will not speak of the EU, when asked he falls back on the weasel word Europe. His argument fails because the EU is not a free trade organisation, in fact the very opposite. Cameron's statements make me wonder if he understands how the EU works or assuming he does, he is lying to us. Situation normal!